Labor unions, green groups and public health advocates pressed the Biden administration on Monday to open up billions of dollars in federal aid to areas smothered by heat waves or wildfire smoke.
A 77-page legal petition filed by the coalition urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency to add heat waves and wildfire smoke to the list of disasters that can trigger FEMA aid to states and households.
“FEMA needs to evolve to deal with these climate-fueled events,” said Jean Su, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which is leading the petition.
The petition comes as a major heat dome is forecast to blanket the eastern half of the United States — from eastern Texas to northern Maine — and as the Biden administration faces pressure to deal with severe heat waves caused in part by climate change.
